Er, is Anna Wintour looking for an ambassadorship in a second Obama term?

posted at 4:01 pm on June 11, 2012 by Erika Johnsen

And here I was thinking that that whole weird “don’t be late” thing was just about Obama’s wealthy, glamorous buddies getting him reelected! How could I have been so naive? From NY Mag:

An article in Saturday’s Guardian mused that Anna Wintour might be rewarded with a political appointment in return for all the money she’sraising for Obama’s reelection campaign. Namely, that she’d be named the U.S. ambassador in England, a post that’s expected to open up later this year.

At first blush, the possibility of Wintour leaving Vogue for a jaunt back to her native London seems absurd, but the Guardian makes a good case for it. The post in question is traditionally reserved for deep-pocketed “friends” of the president, as it’s a cushy job that doesn’t require much heavy lifting when it comes to diplomacy. Recent history supports this: The position is currently occupied by 74-year-old Louis Susman, a retired vice-president of Citigroup, whose fund-raising abilities during Obama’s 2008 campaign earned him the nickname “the vacuum cleaner.” During the Bush administration, the spot was held by wealthy supporters William Farish and Robert Tuttle.

Here’s an interesting sidenote, whatever it may mean: In March of 2011, Vogue ran a glowing profile of Syrian first lady Asma Assad, helping out with the Syrian government’s public-relations push to make Assad and his wife seem chic and glamorous. They’ve since removed the profile from their website, but in an NYT piece about that whole affair today, Anna Wintour issued a statement finally coming out strongly against the Syrian regime.

In a phone interview, Ms. Buck said that shortly after the profile was published, she began “steadily speaking out against the Assad regime,” including in an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN and elsewhere. In April, on National Public Radio, Ms. Buck said she regretted the headline that Vogue put on the article. But she said Mrs. Assad was “extremely thin and very well-dressed, and therefore qualified to be in Vogue.”

This spring, the magazine removed the article from its Web site. On Sunday, Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue, issued a statement about the article saying, in part: “Like many at that time, we were hopeful that the Assad regime would be open to a more progressive society. Subsequent to our interview, as the terrible events of the past year and a half unfolded in Syria, it became clear that its priorities and values were completely at odds with those of Vogue. The escalating atrocities in Syria are unconscionable and we deplore the actions of the Assad regime in the strongest possible terms.”

Trying to demostrate a little diplomatic acumen, perhaps? It looks like the ambassadorship-bid is just an unsubstantiated rumor right now, although Anna Wintour is supposedly well aware of the rumors and declining to quell them. Apparently, however, this kind of thing happens with ambassadorshipsall the damn time in the ranks of the most transparent administration, evah:

The current U.S. ambassador to England, Louis Susman, was a fundraising machine for Obama’s 2008 run. In April, Obama nominated Timothy Broas, who also raised more than a half-mil for Obama, to be the next ambassador to the Netherlands. Last year, iWatch News reported that many of the so-called bundlers who funneled millions of dollars to Obama in 2008 have been rewarded with nice jobs and access, like the telecommunications executive Donald Gips who became the ambassador to South Africa.

Before his 2008 election, Obama spoke out against the practice of wealthy donors being rewarded with prestigious ambassadorships. In early 2007, the candidate derided special interests who he said “turned our government into a game only they can afford to play.”

Huh. More examples of hypocrisy and broken promises from the Obama administration. The mind reels.

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Like many at that time, we were hopeful that the Assad regime would be open to a more progressive society.

The dems were all Assad supporters; it was the cool thing to do. Pelousi and her crew defied the Constitution in their foreign policy trip to Syria to praise the idiot, almost as much as the left always supported and loved Q’Daffy until they claimed they didn’t.

The left are nothing but despicable, anti-American liars. It’s what they are.

Also, there’s a general rule in diplomacy that diplomats should have no relation to the country they are ambassadors to and most certainly not anyone who probably still holds citizenship in that nation (though Wintour would have had to renounce it in order to become an American citizen but I highly doubt she formally got rid of it as her oath of renunciation demanded) … but this is America, Fundamentally Deformed.

If there’s some country run by a guy who resembles a classic James Bond villain (complete with nuclear missiles inside the dormant volcano and pet longhair cat), that would be the perfect country to send Ambassador Wintour.

Before his 2008 election, Obama spoke out against the practice of wealthy donors being rewarded with prestigious ambassadorships. In early 2007, the candidate derided special interests who he said “turned our government into a game only they can afford to play.”

Other messages seem to show how the couple embarked on their clandestine relationship.

McGurk appears to be trying to shake off his security: ‘I’ll provide plenty of warning before coming by. I need to figure out how to lose my goon squad. They tend to mar my most secret and clandestine missions,’ he writes in one email.

In another he chronicles how their relationship developed: ‘From my first message to you through our Chinese dinner to the blue balls banter and then my coming over to hook up with you for the first time (on June 23 — a night the world should celebrate). ‘I am so f****** smooth!’

I’ve asked this before; I feel compelled to ask this again: Has any one seen Wintour and Martin Short in the same place at the same time? Been wondering…..

apostic on June 11, 2012 at 4:12 PM

I see how you might be confused, but I have it on good authority that Wintour is actually the bust of Winston Churchill that was returned to Britain early in the Obama administration – now with lipstick and a wig.

If she is the one determining what and who is considered beautiful then I am seriously considering getting me a rainbow flag and moving to Provincetown.

Er, is Anna Wintour looking for an ambassadorship in a second Obama term?

Poetic justice / karma – President Romney should demand that she become US Ambassador to the Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, where she’ll have to live in a mud hut with no electricity or running water and there will be a communal outhouse a short hike from the hut, which she gets to share with her 500 nearest neighbors.

Will Farish owns a farm in Kentucky that keeps some of Queen Elizabeth’s horses. There was good reason to name him Ambassador, and his appointment was well received in the UK. Naming a fashion magazine editor would be an embarrassment and an insult – but probably right in Obama’s wheelhouse, since he obviously holds Great Britain in great contempt.

If you want to see how far Obama stooped to reward his big donors, and insult our allies in the process, check out the ambassador to Japan.

Bundle a few million dollars’ worth of contributions to Barry’s campaign, and he’ll be happy to appoint you to any taxpayer-funded sinecure you desire.

AZCoyote on June 11, 2012 at 4:15 PM

The real prizes, the most obscene sinecures, are the executive positions at Fannie or Freddie. Those can be worth several million a year. They are reserved for democratics that know too much to cut loose where they might have to write a book to pay the mortgage.

I see how you might be confused, but I have it on good authority that Wintour is actually the bust of Winston Churchill that was returned to Britain early in the Obama administration – now with lipstick and a wig.

Let Anna Wintour be ambassador to the Maldives, if Obama can find them on a map. She can then test whether “global warming” is causing the sea to flood the islands, whose maximum elevation is about 8 feet.

Anna Wintour might quite possibility the only person on this planet that is actually a CGI-created character. I have a very hard time believing anyone with the attitude this yoohoo possesses exists in real life!